Harris' CNN interview August 29, 2024

Kamala Harris said something odd in her "interview" with Dana Bash on CNN last night. It sounded like she said money seniors saved on drugs (negotiated by Biden?) could have gone to fight fentanyl that has been devastating our communities (and she DID NOT say caused by drugs at border crossings). How does that work? How does the money saved in Mr. Senior Citizen's wallet get to the ICE to fight border criminals funded by China? Is this just word salad with brown lettuce? I looked up the Inflation Reduction Act, and couldn't figure out the money supply chain on that one. Everything I've read said the consumer is saving (and there are many exceptions and will only affect a few and doesn't start until next year).

"The Inflation Reduction Act amends the non-interference clause by adding an exception that requires the Secretary of HHS to negotiate prices with drug companies for a small number of single-source brand-name drugs or biologics without generic or biosimilar competitors that are covered under Medicare Part D (starting in 2026) and Part B (starting in 2028). Under the new Drug Price Negotiation Program, the number of drugs selected for price negotiation is 10 Part D drugs for 2026, another 15 Part D drugs for 2027, another 15 Part D and Part B drugs for 2028, and another 20 Part D and Part B drugs for 2029 and later years. These drugs will be selected from the 50 drugs with the highest total Medicare Part D spending and the 50 drugs with the highest total Medicare Part B spending. The number of drugs with negotiated prices available will accumulate over time."

What sort of shell game has she added to gaslighting?

Overall, the interview was poor, didn't reflect well on her.  Tim Walz looked sort of silly sitting there like a Secret Service watchman in Butler, PA. Harris was evasive, and seemed to be looking down at her notes.  She looked tired and exhauted, but then last week was her big event, so perhaps she was tired.  It was billed as an "hour event," but it was more like a half hour, and Harris said little.

Watch out for all the scams

No, there is no discount on Forever stamps if you just click on a site [which will steal your credit card number].

No, there is no excess of something in a warehouse and you can get a really good deal or discount.

No, Medicare has not sent out new cards and all you have to do is read back the number on your old card to the caller who will hoax and scam you.

No, your membership is not about to expire at Lowes, or Amazon, or Walmart, and that too is a scam. (I get about 6 a day.)

No, someone is not trying to make a delivery and the driver is lost. so please give information.

No, no, no, and double no. Just hang up, or delete the message.

Meeting IRMAA

 Irma was the name (not used) of my mother-in-law. Beautiful blonde, lots of fun.  But this IRMAA is different kind altogether.

If you have a "one time" event like selling your summer home in Lakeside, the IRS will increase the cost of your Medicare the next year. It's called IRMAA. Of course, on the sale price, those inflated costs since the purchase in 1988 were figured as real dollars. The government never loses, but it sure can go in debt spending a billion here and a billion there.

We Sold Our Home. Now We Have To Pay More For Medicare! What’s IRMAA? (forbes.com)

The appeal seems to be written in a foreign language that no one but a bureaucrat could read. https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0601140005#

Non-defense spending

 Six charts illustrating what is happening to non-defense spending/safety net. 6 Charts Highlight Trends Driven by Growing Nondefense Spending (dailysignal.com)

The growth of the federal budget and the debt has been driven by an unsustainable growth in nondefense spending.

These charts illustrate how we got here and the long-term consequences to our nation’s financial health.

The Warren Gap fallacy—or how she promotes envy and sows discord

For Example:

There are three married couples; all named The Bruces. White, 8th generation, college educated Americans.   Bruces A are 20+ years old; Bruces B are 50+ years old and Bruces C are 65+ years old. From top to bottom, Bruces A, B, and C.

Bruces C are much wealthier than Bruces A and Bruces B. They have pensions, 403-b, 401-K, Social Security,  investments  and 2 homes. Bruces B have some savings, no investments, and 2 homes.  Bruces A have one house, no savings or investments.  There’s a wealth gap.

Bruces B have a much higher income than Bruces A and Bruces C.  There is an income gap.

Bruces A are much healthier than Bruces B and Bruces C.  There is a health gap.

Bruces A have minimal health insurance, some hospitalization coverage never used; Bruces B have great health insurance from large self insured employer—OSU; Bruces C have Medicare A & B, plus supplemental. Good, but not as great as Bruces B.  There is an insurance gap.

Bruces A take no medications at all.  Bruces B have minor conditions requiring little medication.  Bruces C have had heart, blood pressure, cancer, asthma, cholesterol problems, all treatable.  There is a health consumption gap.

Bruces A are usually employed or under employed—they are students or lower level employees; Bruces B are fully employed, or self-employed and are DINKS; Bruces C are not employed even irregularly.  There is an employment gap.

Bruces A rarely ever have a vacation or travel; Bruces B occasionally travel to visit relatives or vacation close to home; Bruces C travel to many countries and enjoy cruises, they eat out frequently, attend art events, pursue hobbies.  There is a leisure gap.

Which of the Bruces, A, B, or C, does Elizabeth Warren want to tax to "help" the other two?

Follow the money

The SECOND most important reason for Democrats to demand "Medicare for All" or "single payer" (government) insurance is that $300 Billion exemption employers get for insuring their workers with a quality product tailored to their needs. Democrats believe that exemption is a "loophole" and really belongs to them to pass around to their friends so they can stay in office. The government actually built this odd system after WWII when it imposed controls on wages, and employers added benefits to get the best employees.

https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/how-does-tax-exclusion-employer-sponsored-health-insurance-work

The first reason and biggest is control over your life choices and third is your health data which can be sold to the highest bidder.

Fourth is the victimhood mentality that has been pounded into minds of mush since the 1970s in public schools and higher education. It's a vote getter. It's more apparent in Gen-X and Millennials than Boomers, and almost unknown in my generation. In that mind set, it isn't fair that Whole Foods shoppers have better insurance than Walmart shoppers, even though the WF shopper is a "virtue signaler," better educated and well paid, and looks down on the schlubs who shop at Walmart, clean their homes and keep their toilets and automobiles running. In a "fair" world, everyone would only shop at Walmart and Whole Foods wouldn't exist. Choice wouldn't exist.

Are Americans the worst patients in the world?

“Recriminations tend to focus on how Americans pay for health care, and on our hospitals and physicians. Surely if we could just import Singapore’s or Switzerland’s health-care system to our nation, the logic goes, we’d get those countries’ lower costs and better results. Surely, some might add, a program like Medicare for All would help by discouraging high-cost, ineffective treatments.

But lost in these discussions is, well, us. We ought to consider the possibility that if we exported Americans to those other countries, their systems might end up with our costs and outcomes. That although Americans (rightly, in my opinion) love the idea of Medicare for All, they would rebel at its reality. In other words, we need to ask: Could the problem with the American health-care system lie not only with the American system but with American patients?”

Atlantic July 2019. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/07/american-health-care-spending/590623/

Anna Loska Meenan, who lives in the Rockford area and used to be on staff at the Mt. Morris clinic, says:

This excellent article explains why Medicare for All in the US would quickly lead to one of two scenarios: Either the health care system would be immediately bankrupted, or the resulting rationing would lead to riots in the streets. Having been involved in health care, I can confirm that this author speaks the truth, and from conversations with docs who are still seeing patients, I can see that things have only gotten worse since I left medicine 10 years ago.

The Middle Class Yarn spun to frighten you

It's not exactly fake news, but it's misleading--the story you hear that the middle class is shrinking and so many more people are using government benefits because of the gap between the very wealthy and the "others." There are three things to consider:

1) demographics/age,

2) marriage or the lack of it, and

3) expansion of federal benefits from the poor and deserving to the middle class.

Rejoice, patriots. It's not true. The middle class is only shrinking because so many people have moved up to the next quintile! Have you ever driven to the suburban areas of Columbus (or the city where you live)--I can't believe the homes, schools, shopping centers, churches, gyms, parts, etc. And the new high rise housing in the central city for all those millennials willing to pay the apartment costs.

Also, as the boomers retire, they are now living on their pensions and investments (the very wealth Elizabeth Warren wants to go after), plus they are drawing Social Security. And guess what, a two parent household with both adults working has a much higher income than a one parent household who is most likely a woman. Two adults in a home have more time to distribute to the children to see to it they are educated and well-fed. It's amazing how many "experts" in socialist think tanks switch to "household" to show poverty rates and don't factor in $30,000 in transferred benefits like EITC, SNAP and Section 8.

We've been in 4 of the 5 quintiles in our 58 years together, as have many our age. We have 5 streams of income, as do many our age--some if they have military benefits have 6 or 7. We're certainly not suffering, but as retirees, we have less INCOME than when we were DINKs, but more WEALTH because we have lived frugally and invested or lived on one income. Warren wants to punish us for living on less when we were in our 40s.

Left of center think tanks crunch the numbers and in horror say, the sky if falling. There's a gap that wasn't there in 1979. We need a more "progressive" system--higher taxes. Well, duh. You mean when we lived in an upper middle class neighborhood of the 70s in a home with 1.5 bathrooms, 2 TVs, 1 phone, 1 car, 1 income, and lived month to month with 2 growing children in our home? Do you mean when we had 1 week vacation, which we spent at Mom's farm, and paid our own health insurance? Do you mean when we had a mortgage and a car payment, but no credit card or college debt (never had that because we never borrowed). Do you mean when FICA withdrawals from our 1 check ended at $22,900 and there was no Medicare tax (now is $127,200 FICA + 1.45% for Medicare)? And the personal exemption? Much higher then. Don't have the exact figure for 1979, but if the 1913 rate (year of modern income tax) of $3000 were adjusted for inflation it would be about $72,000--anyone getting that?

So what has the government done for the poor and low income with all the tax money and safety net money we've sent in the last 40 years? Well, the so-called safety net expanded so much that the middle class now qualifies for many entitlement programs meant for the poor. The middle class voter now screams if there's no COLA for Social Security (which originally was for the poor widows and orphans) and Medicare.

Now 55% of the U.S. population are receiving some sort of entitlement--and it's not because we're poor, it's because we're middle class and wealthy. It's because for every election the politicians dangle an increase for the population served by Social Security, or one of our 5 health insurance programs. Government programs NEVER get smaller--they always expand, and since there are so few poor people in America, they expand into the middle class. There are people earning over $100,000 who qualify for government benefits--even Obamacare.

Social Insurance and Retirement Payroll Taxes

From:  Overview of the Federal Tax System, 2018, p. 15 Congressional Research Service, March 29, 2018

“Payroll taxes are used to fund specific programs, largely Social Security and Medicare. Social Security and Medicare taxes are generally paid at a combined rate of 15.3% of wages, with 7.65% being paid by the employee and employer alike.

The Social Security part of the tax, or the old age, survivors, and disability insurance (OASDI) tax, is 6.2% for both employees and employers (12.4% in total). In 2018, the tax applies to the first $128,400 in wages. This wage base is adjusted annually for inflation.

The Medicare portion of the tax, or the Medicare hospital insurance (HI) tax, is 1.45% for both employees and employers (2.9% in total). There is no wage cap for the HI tax (the Medicare HI tax applies to all wage earnings). Certain higher-income taxpayers may be subject to an additional HI tax of 0.9%. For married taxpayers filing jointly, combined wages above $250,000 are subject to the additional 0.9% HI tax. The threshold for single and head of household filers is $200,000. These threshold amounts are not indexed for inflation.

Employers may also be subject to a federal unemployment insurance payroll tax. This tax is 0.6% on the first $7,000 of wages. Federal unemployment insurance payroll taxes are used to pay for the administrative costs of the unemployment insurance (UI) program. State UI taxes generally pay for UI benefits.

Most taxpayers pay more in payroll taxes than income taxes. The JCT [Joint Committee on Taxes]  projects that in 2018, 67% of tax units will pay more in payroll taxes than income taxes. Most low- and middle-income taxpayers pay more in payroll taxes than in income taxes. [They pay zero income tax because of our progressive tax system.] Nearly all taxpayers with incomes of $30,000 or less pay more in payroll taxes than income taxes. Up through the $100,000 to $200,000 income category, the share of taxpayers paying more in payroll taxes than income taxes exceeds the share of taxpayers paying more in income taxes than payroll taxes.”

 

https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R45145

Drain the swamp

As socialists try to make us feel guilty for “ignoring” the poor, sick, prisoners, immigrants while quoting Bible verses--think on this.

"The Committee on the Budget in the Senate identified 83 overlapping federal welfare programs that together represented the single largest budget item in 2011 — more than the nation spends on Social Security, Medicare, or national defense. The total amount spent on these 83 federal welfare programs amounts to roughly $1.03 trillion. In inflation-adjusted dollars, the amount expended on just 10 of the largest of these programs has increased by 378 percent over the last 30 years. “

That's why a good job is the best program for the poor and low income, not another government program to fatten the bureaucracy. The Trump economy has done more for minorities and poor than guilt and smears the left can throw.

 https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/CRS%20Report%20-%20Welfare%20Spending%20The%20Largest%20Item%20In%20The%20Federal%20Budget.pdf

Jennifer Cho suggests healthy cost savings for seniors

Ms. Cho has suggestions for savings in your Medicare plan, plus some healthy eating and exercise tips, and where you can find some discounts.  Check it out.

https://dealspotr.com/article/health-care-health-insurance-savings-guide-for-seniors

Do you enjoy eating out?  Are you a ROMEO (retired old men [and women] eating out) Here's Jennifer's list.

It’s important to remember that these discounts may vary by location and won’t be honored everywhere. And it’s important to always ask if there's a discount; even if there isn’t an official discount, many restaurants will be happy to offer you one.

• Applebee’s: 10-15% off. May require a Golden Apple Card (Age 60+)
• Arby’s: 10% off and reports of a free drink (age 55+)
• Auntie Anne’s Soft Pretzels: 10% off (age 65+)
• A&W All American Food: 10% off
• Backyard Burger: Free drink with purchase
• Ben & Jerry’s: 10% off (age 60+)
• Bennigan’s: discount varies by location (age 60+)
• Blimpie Restaurants Sub Sandwiches: 10% off at most locations (age 55+)
• Bob’s Big Boy: discount varies by location (age 60+)
• Bonefish Grill: AARP members get 15% off
• Boston Market: discount varies by location (age 65+)
• Brother’s Family Restaurant: discounts up to 10% on Wednesdays
• Burger King: 10% off plus additional discounts on coffee and soft drinks (age 60+)
• Bubba Gump Shrimp Co: 10% off for AARP Members
• Captain D’s Seafood: special offers on Wednesdays and Sundays for select items (age 62+)
• Carl’s Jr.: 10% off (age 55+)
• Carrabba’s Italian Grill: 15% off entire meal for AARP Members
• Carrows Restaurants: discounted senior menu (age 55+)
• Chart House: 10% off for AARP members
• Church’s Chicken: 10% off (age 55+)
• Chick-Fil-A: Free small drink or coffee and 10% discount (age 55+)
• Chili’s: 10% off (age 55+)
• CiCi’s Pizza: 10% off pizza and/or buffet (age 60+)
• Claim Jumper: 10% off for AARP members
• Corky’s Homestyle Kitchen & Bakery: discounted senior menu and a Frequent Diner Card (buy 9 get 1 free) (age 55+)
• Country Kitchen: discounted senior menu (55+)
• Culver’s: 10% off (age 60+)
• Dairy Queen: 10% discount or free small drink w/ meal (age 55+)
• Del Taco: 10% discount or a free drink (age 55+)
• Denny’s: AARP members get 15-20% off between 4 and 10pm and $1 coffee
• Dunkin’ Donuts: AARP members receive a free donut with the purchase of a large or XL coffee
• Einstein Bro’s Bagels: 10% off (age 60+)
• El Pollo Loco: 10% off (age 60+)
• Farmer Boys: 10% off (age 55+)
• Fazoli’s: Their “Club 62” gives you access to a special seniors menu (age 62+)
• Friendly’s Restaurants: 10% off meal w/ free coffee at breakfast or free small dessert during non-breakfast hours (age 60+)
• Fuddrucker’s: 10% off any senior platter (age 55+)
• Gatti’s Pizza: 10% off (age 60+)
• Golden Corral: 10% off dinner or entree (age 55+)
• Hardee’s: 10% discount or discounted drink or coffee (age 60+)
• IHOP:  10% discount or senior menu (age 55+)
• Jack in the Box: up to 20% off (age 55+)
• Johnny Rockets: 10% off (age 55+)
• KFC: Free small drink with any meal (age 55+)
• Krispy Kreme: 10% off (age 50+)
• Long John Silver’s: 10% discount or discounted beverage (age 55+)
• LongHorn Steakhouse: discounted senior menu (or can order from kid's menu) (age 50+)
• McDonald’s: discounts on coffee everyday (age 50+)
• Mrs. Fields: 10% off (age 60+)
• Noah’s New York Bagels: 10% off (age 55+)
• Outback Steakhouse: 15% off for AARP members
• Old Country Buffet: daily discounts for seniors (age 55+)
• Papa John’s: 25% off (age 55+) for online orders. Enter the code “AARP25” when placing your order. AMAC members receive 25% off, enter code “25SAVE”
• Perkins Restaurants: special seniors menu (age 55+)
• Port of Subs: 10% off (age 55+)
• Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen: 10% off (age 55+)
• Ponderosa Steakhouse: discounted senior menu (age 60+)
• Shoney’s: Join the Shoney’s “Golden Age Club” for 10% off (age 60+)
• Sizzler: discounted seniors menu (age 60+)
• Sonic: 10% off or free beverage (age 60+)
• Steak ‘n Shake: 10% off every Monday & Tuesday (age 50+)
• Subway: 10% off (age 60+)
• Sweet Tomatoes/Souplantation: Senior Meal deals Monday-Thursday from 2 to 5pm $7.99 All You Can Eat. All other times 10% off (age 60+)
• Taco Bell: 5% off and free or discounted beverages (age 65+)
• Taco Time: 10% off (age 55+)
• TCBY: 10% off (age 55+)
• Tea Room Cafe: 10% off (age 50+)
• The Old Spaghetti Factory: discounted senior menu
• Uno Pizzaria & Grill: 25% off on Wednesdays (age 55+)
• Village Inn: 10% off (age 60+)
• Waffle House: 10% off every Monday (age 60+)
• Wendy’s: 5-10% discount on regular meals or free/discounted drinks (age 55+)
• Whataburger: 10% discount or free drink w/ purchase of a meal (age 55+)
• White Castle: 10% off (age 62+)

MACRA and DREXIT

The latest government acronym that will increase your medical cost and lower your quality of service is MACRA, The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015. It was signed into law over a year ago and is the “law of the land” now with overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress and with much lobbying and cheerleading from medical associations. Obama even joked about having Republicans on board.  And MACRA is very lengthy and very detailed legislation. 962 pages. Does your doctor have time to read it? Efficient, quantifiable, homogenized, controlled and dehumanized. We might get a Drexit. http://hitconsultant.net/2016/07/19/34815/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2016/07/21/last-years-medicare-doc-fix-is-already-breaking-down-here-are-some-new-fixes/#dff7517154cc

"As many as 58 percent of surveyed physicians would opt to join a larger organization to mitigate individual risk and have access to a greater array of resources. Eighty percent saw physician consolidation as an inevitability under MACRA, with half of physicians viewing financial pressures as the top driver of consolidation."  I suspect this is the true purpose of MACRA.  No independent doctors. https://ehrintelligence.com/news/physician-readiness-for-macra-implementation-found-wanting

The list of suggestions for change looks as long as the legislation. http://advocacyblog.acponline.org/2016/06/macra-solutions-versus-macra-rants.html

This doctor won't accept Medicare because. . .

This is no way to treat people who have dedicated their lives to helping others.

• Medicare treats physicians as criminals—guilty until proven innocent.
• Medicare warns patients on their billing statements to turn their physicians in for suspected fraud.
• Medicare demonstrates no transparency in the flow of taxpayer money through their program.
• Medicare may reimburse physicians so little that we lose money with each appointment forcing doctors to go bankrupt (or run Medicare mills with ramped up volume and quickie visits to make ends meet).
• Medicare claims are more complex than any other insurer with more billing codes and rules and regulations that require hiring a team of staff to remain compliant or else . . .
• Medicare regulatory codes by which physicians must abide is 130,000 pages long! (US Tax code is only 75,000).
• Medicare requires compliance with more unfunded mandates and administrative trivia than any other insurer.
• Medicare penalizes physicians financially if we don’t use a Medicare-approved computer system and electronic health record.
• Medicare penalizes physicians financially if we don’t electronically submit prescriptions the way Medicare demands.
• Medicare threatens doctors every year with all sorts of financial penalties if we don’t do what they (non-physicians) think we should be doing.
• Medicare audits may suddenly destroy a medical practice and a physician’s life as described by Dr. Karen Smith.
• Medicare abuses and bullies doctors.

Check out the web page for Dr. Pamela Wible, M.D.

Make your New Year's Resolution about your finances

I know there are some who think Medicare is "free" healthcare, and believe all Americans should have it rather than the ragged, poorly thought out and sketchy Obamacare (these unnamed would be Democrats/Progressives) or private insurance. But it's not free. First, all my working years I paid into it (I'm not eligible for Social Security, although I did pay into it in a number of non-state jobs, so there's a special deduction for state employees). Second, I get a "Medicare reimbursement" with my monthly pension, which is then taxed. My "free" health insurance costs over 13% of a very small pension.  If I were single, or even if I hadn't invested 15% of my income in addition to my pension deduction every month I worked, I would be in desperate circumstances. Many women my age had a shorter work career, at a lower salary range due to career choices, and will be single longer than men. So make your New Year's resolution to put more into retirement. You'll need it for your health insurance, which by then will be single payer government owned, and horribly expensive.

According to the work of Harvard University's Malcolm Sparrow, fraud could account for as much as 20 percent of total federal health care spending, which would be considerably higher than what the government's figures indicate.

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/merrillmatthews/2012/05/31/medicare-and-medicaid-fraud-is-costing-taxpayers 

 

 http://www.cato.org/publications/congressional-testimony/waste-fraud-abuse-government-health-care

Free stuff

I’ve been lured with free stuff. The entitlement generation. I’ve never paid much attention to “Silver Sneakers,” and wasn’t sure if I was supposed to have it or not. But after 10 years on Medicare, they finally sent me a card—probably because the price of my policy has gone up. The theory is, if Seniors stay healthy, then we’ll cost the insurance company less. I’m guessing it is more like, if you’re already healthy, you can use this perk—free passes to exercise facilities.

So this morning I went to the one closest to my house Metro Fitness and tried out 2 machines, but only for a total of 15 minutes. I’m nursing a sore hip (bursitis) so I don’t want to do anything to aggravate it. I did the treadmill for 10 minutes and a reclining bike with a back rest for 5. It had all the digital bells and whistles where I could enter my age, weight, check my heart rate, calories, distance, etc.

There are also “free classes” for seniors daily. There were chair aerobics today that I looked in on. One facility further away has a whirl pool and other goodies, but I don’t want to drive another 3 miles in the morning traffic. I have an exercycle at home and am using a free program on the internet having cycled 139.2 miles since Dec. 26 and lost 10 pounds (not from exercise because that doesn’t do it, but from not eating my favorite snacks, desserts, having wine with dinner, and sandwiches at lunch). I’m also in an exercise class at church that is about $1 a session. I could also walk around the condo grounds or the block for free. Yes, I’m on the government dole.

Anyway, I just wanted to thank the rest of you taxpayers for a perk that costs much more than if I had a private membership the way the other people using the facilities do.

The Democrats' War on Women gearing up.

New Medicare cuts in home health care to help fund Obamacare will affect predominately women. Plus it will disproportionately affect women workers who own and staff the home health industry.  Home health care actually drives down medical costs for the elderly.  What were they thinking?http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/feb/28/weber-obamacares-punch-to-home-health-care/

On Jan. 1, Medicare’s home health care services, formerly serving 3.5 million elderly beneficiaries across the country, were cut under Obamacare. The cut deleted exactly 14 percent, or an estimated $22 billion, from these lowest-income Americans over four years. News of the forthcoming cut only trickled out the Friday before Thanksgiving, yet another stunning attempt by the Obama White House to reduce Medicare benefits without attracting notice.

Who’s the wacko bird now, John?*

“(Reuters) - UnitedHealth Group (UNH.N) dropped thousands of doctors from its networks in recent weeks, leaving many elderly patients unsure whether they need to switch plans to continue seeing their doctors, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

The insurer said in October that underfunding of Medicare Advantage plans for the elderly could not be fully offset by the company's other healthcare business. The company also reported spending more healthcare premiums on medical claims in the third quarter, due mainly to government cuts to payments for Medicare Advantage services.

The Journal report said that doctors in at least 10 states were notified of being laid off the plans, some citing "significant changes and pressures in the healthcare environment." According to the notices, the terminations can be appealed within 30 days.”

* John McCain referred to Senator Rand Paul, Senator Ted Cruz and Rep. Justin Amash (all Republicans) as “wacko birds” back in March 2013.

Important things to know about Medicare

1) “Medicare is essentially compulsory. People who refuse to join Medicare Part A are not allowed to receive their earned Social Security benefits. On June 30, 2011, U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint and 12 GOP colleagues introduced the Retirement Freedom Act to decouple Medicare from Social Security. On February 7, 2012, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals held that ‘because plaintiffs are entitled to Social Security benefits and are 65 or older, they are automatically entitled to Medicare Part A benefits. The statute offers no path to disclaim their legal entitlement to Medicare Part A benefits.’”

2) “Medicare patients cannot pay cash for care. A 1997 law (Balanced Budget Act, section 4507) forbids private contracts between patients and doctors.” This means that “Medicare recipients cannot pay cash for a Medicare-covered service that Medicare DENIES until the doctor has opted out of Medicare.” (My Caps) So Medicare patients must first find a fee for a service doctor or specialist and then HOPE he will be willing and able to treat them! It is incredible that it makes no difference that Medicare has DENIED their claim. (Remember that illegals may well get this same treatment free of charge simply by walking into the nearest Emergency Room.)

3) “Initial refusal to enroll in Medicare Part B leads to costly penalties. Seniors are automatically enrolled in Medicare Part B. Those who refuse and later change their minds will pay a premium for the rest of their lives that is 10 percent higher for each year they were not enrolled.”

Seventy seven million baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964 are currently becoming eligible for Medicare enrollment. The number of Medicare beneficiaries will grow “…from 50.7 million in 2012 to 81 million in 2030.” During the next 17 years, doctors and hospitals will be reimbursed at a lower rate for Medicare services with each passing year. At the same time, the number of qualified physicians is expected to decrease dramatically as the number of older patients requiring care skyrockets. The left were hardly unaware of these facts when they rammed the Affordable Care Act through Congress.

In 2012, approximately 56% of Americans 65 or older voted for Mitt Romney. As weak and disappointing as this Obama-lite candidate was, he received a strong majority of the senior vote.

So the question becomes, in addition to acquiring the power of life and death over the American people, has the Affordable Care Act provided Democrats a method of “cancelling out” the Republican edge among future senior voters?

from http://www.westernjournalism.com/obamacare-death-panels-will-begin-work-medicare-recipients/#ZYZTohgzoUWfeKVX.99